Last week saw the biggest and brightest companies in the foreign direct investment (FDI) field congregate at the Hibernian Club, Stephen’s Green for the annual FDI 100 event.
Microsoft Ireland was awarded the FDI of the Month for February. The Managing Director, Cathriona Hallahan, was there to receive the award.
This award coincided nicely with the new One Microsoft Place campus opening at Leopardstown yesterday.
“I think it’s a fantastic event to recognise companies who’ve made a contribution to Ireland and to highlight the importance of foreign direct investment for Ireland”, Cathriona said.
Title sponsors on the night were Friends First and the Strategic Marketing Director, Brian O’Neill, zoned in on what the event means: “FDI, as we know, is such a critical part of Ireland and our economic success.
“It’s an amalgam of factors. There’s a history to it, it isn’t just in the 12-and-a-half per cent tax rate. So in recent years, for instance, we’ve got a concentration in areas like reassurance, which is linked to my own area, overseas life assurance, and again, aircraft leasing now. We’ve got three of the top four companies in the world in aircraft leasing.”
eir business‘ Managing Director Bill Archer commented on why Ireland is so successful in the FDI field: “The importance of the FDI event, I think, is to highlight one of Ireland’s greatest success stories, and that is foreign direct investment.
“I mean, certainly, policy that welcomes foreign investment is number one. There’s an ambitious educated workforce and I’d say, also, having unrestricted access to the European market.”
See the highlights and interviews from the night below and see the photo gallery here.
